It’s really frustrating, but here’s what I’ve been able to gather:

1. Some of these folks already have a huge following elsewhere, like on LinkedIn, X, etc.

2. Some of them have very general accounts that appeal to a wider audience. For example, “tech” is more general than, say, “quantum computing.” I will probably never get as many subscribers as a tech generalist, but I generally will have better engagement.

3. They constantly post “Let’s partner” and “Let me read your work” notes, but actually never partner with anyone or read anything. That’s being fake, and you don’t want to do that.

4. They are super aggressive with notes and/or video posts. The Substack UI now places too much emphasis on notes and video posts.

Also, related to 2, a large subscriber count doesn’t mean revenue. Most accounts that practice 2-4 have zero paid subscribers, despite having a huge subscriber base.

Timothy A Genske is my favorite underrated writer, focusing heavily on the Olympics. He has 51 subscribers in total, but 4 are paid!